Refinitiv removes Reuters story on Hong Kong protests from screens in China

Under pressure from Chinese regulators, financial information provider Refinitiv has removed from its Eikon terminals in China a Reuters story detailing how an official with Beijing’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong had urged residents of a rural area to drive away anti-government protesters days before a violent clash nearby, according to Eikon users and a person with knowledge of Refinitiv’s action.

The story, which was published late last week, was not visible on the Eikon terminal’s scrolling news feed in China on Friday. Eikon users outside China said they could still see the story. Reuters was unable to determine precisely when the story had been removed from Eikon’s scrolling news feed for clients in China or whether other stories had been blocked.

Refinitiv has a license to provide financial information in China, and a person familiar with the matter said Refinitiv’s regulator there, the Cyberspace Administration of China, or CAC, had said it would shut down the service unless it removed or blocked certain political stories.

The person, who asked not to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter, said Refinitiv had agreed to block some political news from its platform in mainland China.

“As a global business, we comply with all our local regulatory obligations, including the requirements of our license to operate in China,” Refinitiv said in a written statement to Reuters.

The CAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In June, Reuters reported that Refinitiv, under pressure from China’s government, had removed from Eikon several Reuters stories related to the 30th anniversary of the violent suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

Refinitiv removed the Tiananmen stories after a similar warning from the CAC, people with knowledge of the action said at the time.

“Reuters reports around the world in a fair, unbiased and independent manner, in keeping with the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles, and we stand by our China coverage,” a Reuters spokesman said. “We continue to provide Refinitiv with the same scope of content that we always have, including stories relating to China, and Refinitiv’s decisions will not affect the breadth or quality of our coverage.”

In June, Reuters President Michael Friedenberg and Editor-in-Chief Steve Adler said the news organization had spoken to Refinitiv and expressed its concern about the earlier action to block Reuters stories about the Tiananmen anniversary. They urged staff to “continue reporting as you always would: to pursue the truth, without fear or favor.”

SENSITIVE YEAR

Refinitiv was formed last year when Reuters News’ parent company Thomson Reuters Corp sold a 55% stake in its Financial & Risk (F&R) unit to a group led by private equity firm Blackstone Group LP.

On Thursday, London Stock Exchange announced a $27 billion deal to buy Refinitiv.

Reuters News, a unit of Thomson Reuters, supplies news to Refinitiv under a 30-year agreement that pays Reuters a minimum of $325 million per year, making Refinitiv the news organization’s largest customer.

Reuters also provides news for media and digital clients, and their access to stories was not affected.

Censorship in China has been intensifying under President Xi Jinping, and businesses have come under growing pressure to block content that Beijing sees as sensitive.

This is an especially sensitive year for China. In addition to the June 4th Tiananmen anniversary, the country will on Oct. 1 mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Hong Kong has been plunged into its biggest political crisis since the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule in 1997. A wave of protests has engulfed Hong Kong since the introduction of a now-suspended extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial in Communist Party controlled courts.

The Reuters story blocked by Refinitiv reported that an official from China’s representative office had used a July 11 banquet for hundreds of villagers in Hong Kong’s rural New Territories to urge residents to protect their towns in the Yuen Long district and to drive away protesters.

On July 21, after anti-government protesters marched in central Hong Kong and defaced China’s Liaison Office, more than 100 men swarmed through Yuen Long train station, attacking black-clad protesters and others with pipes and clubs. Forty-five people were injured, one critically.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-refinitiv/refinitiv-removes-reuters-story-on-hong-kong-protests-from-screens-in-china-idUSKCN1US23J

JPMorgan set for historic majority stake in China funds JV

JP Morgan was on Friday poised to become the first foreign company to hold a majority stake in a Chinese mutual fund business, two sources said, setting a precedent that one analyst said would trigger a wave of similar transactions.

A 2% percent stake in the venture, China International Fund Management (CIFM), changed hands in an auction at the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange.

In a filing on Friday, the exchange did not identify the buyer, but two sources with knowledge of the deal, which still needs regulatory approval, told Reuters that JP Morgan Asset Management Co was the sole bidder. JP Morgan, which had held 49% of the venture, declined to comment.

Under rule changes announced by China in late 2017, foreign asset managers were authorized to own up to 51 percent of their Chinese mutual fund ventures.

But so far none had raised their stakes to absolute majorities.

Last month Beijing, embroiled in a bitter trade war with Washington that is weighing on its economy, said it would scrap financial sector ownership limits in 2020, one year earlier than scheduled.

Also on Friday, Morgan Stanley became the latest of a handful of foreign firms to take a majority stake in a China-based brokerage venture, also buying a 2% stake.

Peter Alexander, Managing Director of Shanghai-based fund consultancy Z-Ben Advisors, said both transactions were likely to be the tip of an iceberg.

“China policy, irrespective of ongoing bilateral trade issues, is centered on the opening up of the local financial services industry to global participation,” Alexander said, referring to the escalating Sino-U.S. trade war.

“What’s frustrating to us is seeing just how ill prepared the vast majority of global players are to move on the opportunity. Expect a scramble once people return from their summer holidays.”

The CIFM auction closed at a price of 241.3 million yuan ($34.78 million), the Shanghai Exchange said.

Alexander said that meant JPMorgan was paying a 33% premium to raise its stake to 51%, which he called “rather rich”, but “not over-priced”.

bullshit, they are scrambling to get a bigger footprint in china as they know what is going to habben here, and are willing to pay whatever it takes for it.

He expected the deal’s metrics would be applied to future similar transactions in China’s fast-growing, $2 trillion mutual fund industry.

Before the JPMAM bid, Shanghai International Trust - belonging to Shanghai Pudong Development Group - owned 51% of CIFM.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-fund-jpmorgan/jpmorgan-set-for-historic-majority-stake-in-china-funds-jv-sources-idUSKCN1US211

>>7310658

and the timing of this after this deal done.

London Stock Exchange acquires Refinitv in $27 billion deal

https://www.apnews.com/8cced1ad189d4b98913947c0384223b4

>>7310698

>>7310919

welcome to weds night

https://www.finviz.com/insidertrading.ashx?oc=1043298&tc=7